One recovering addict told the show she could get the drug simply by sending a text and having it show up on her doorstep. She said heroin was easier to obtain than marijuana.

The heroin and opiate problem has been getting worse in Ohio for years. In 2014, the most recent statewide data available, 2,531 people died from drug overdoses in Ohio, which was a 20 percent increase from 2013.

The death toll continues to climb as the availability of fentanyl, an opioid that is 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin, has increased. And now officials are worried about the appearance of suspected carfentanil — which is 100 times more potent than fentanyl and used for large animals such as elephants. Suspected carfentanil has been noted in a spike of overdoses in both Akron and Columbus this summer.

The rate of overdose deaths in the state could have been much worse, but more than 2,200 lives were saved in the past year with the help of naloxone purchased with a $500,000 investment by the state.

Naloxone, the generic for the brand Narcan, is a non-narcotic that can restore breathing in people who are overdosing from prescription painkillers or heroin. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been encouraging local health departments to increase access to the medication and training in how to use it in the face of the nationwide heroin and opioid epidemic.

"Anybody watching today, this show, it could be your family," DeWine warned during the show. "This is the worst drug epidemic I've seen in my lifetime."